2nd SCS International Grandmaster Chess tournament

May 31, 2010

Martyn Kravtsiv Champion, second GM Norm for Adhiban

19-year-old Ukraine Grandmaster Martyn Kravtsiv edged out other GMs to emerge champion in the 2nd SCS International Grandmaster Chess Tournament, which concluded at Hotel Swosti Premium, Bhubaneswar. Joining Kravtsiv in the top were Alexandrov, Turov, Dreev, Adhiban and Kokarev, all with 8.5 points each from 11 rounds.

Kravtsiv’s better Buchholz tie-break score (76.5) gave him the title. In the absence of an outright winner, the top six cash prizes were shared by the top six with each pocketing Rs 87,667 each (approximately Euros 1540 each).

National champion Adhiban Baskaran gladdened the hearts of fellow Indians securing his second GM norm with a draw against top seed GM Alexey Dreev. With his present rating of Elo 2510, Adhiban with few more GM Norm events to come up shortly, could well become India’s next Grandmaster.

In another upset Delhi school boy Vaibhav Suri defeated International Master M R Lalith Babu. The impressive win also fetched Suri his maiden GM norm. Securing 8.0 points from 11 rounds with a rating performance of ELO 2579, Vaibhav stands to add ELO 56 points for his performance and would become India’s next International Master.

Overall, the tournament, offered prizes fund to the tune of Rupees 1,100,000 (approximately Euros 19325). By involving 85 title holders, including 34 GMs, 26 IMs and 3 WGMs, this event could as well be billed as the strongest of its kind in Asia. The success of the tournament can be measured where it produced three titles (two IM, one WGM) and seven norms (two GM, one WGM, four IM) respectively.

Humpy Koneru Claims First Women Grand Prix

Mar 20, 2009

6-19th March in Istanbul, Turkey

GM Humpy Koneru and GM Yifan Hou moved into the final round of the the first Women Grand Prix with equal points, but Koneru won with Black against GM Marie Sebag to capture the first place and 6.500 Euro prize. Yifan Hou drew against her compatriot Shen Yang, allowing IM Elina Danielan to catch her on the second place share. Danielan had a fantastic tournament, earning her second GM norm, as reported by the official website.

Sasikiran dominating in Pamplona

Dec 31, 2008

Internacional Ciudad de Pamplona, 22-29th December

Indian Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran convincingly won the 28th Internacional Ciudad de Pamplona that finished this Sunday. Sasikiran, who was also top-seeded player in the tournament, secured the trophy with three consecutive wins in rounds 4-6, against Caruana, Vallejo Pons and Roiz respectively.

Francisco Vallejo Pons, who played five decisive games out of seven rounds, and Vladimir Malakhov are tied on the second place. Italian star Fabiano Caruana finished on 50%, while Spanish junior champion Ivan Salgado Lopez couldn’t achieve more against the impressive opposition.

Three Players Share Honors In Vlissingen Open

Aug 9, 2008

Bruzon, Sandipan and Amonatov with 7.5 points

Unlike the common practice of making quick draws in the last round in many open tournaments, the Hogeschool Zeeland Chess Tournament 2008 ended with fireworks today. GM Sipke Ernst, a sole leader after 6 rounds, lost to Indian GM Sandipan Chanda who propelled himself to the first place. Another Dutch player succumbed on the last day – GM Friso Nijboer lost with Black to GM Lazaro Bruzon. The third player on the first place tie is top-seeded GM Farrukh Amonatov, who invested lots of effort to convert the better endgame against GM Ikonnikov.

Bellow are selected games from 7th and 8th round (last round not available yet).

Ikaros Chess Festival 2008

Jul 29, 2008

Aegean Open Championship 2008

The main event if Ikaros Chess Festival 2008, the Aegean Open Championship 2008, was concluded on Sunday 20th of July. The ultimate 9th round was a very combative one since after eight rounds seven players were sharing the first place with 6.5/8, while four others were following just half a point behind!

At the end the winner of the tournament was the Greek Grandmaster and national champion Christos Banikas who, in his last game, beat Alexander Shneider with white to reach 7.5/9. The same score was achieved by Robert Markus who beat Rafal Lubczynski but had a worse tie-break than Banikas.

GM Christos Banikas

GM Robert Markus

The third place with 7/9 went to Evgeny Postny who, although with a very good start at the tournament, somehow lost pace in the final rounds and made three draws that cost him the first place. The same score with Postny but with worse tie-breaks was achieved by Thomas Henricks, Dusan Lekic and Sebastian Siebrecht.

Among women, the competition was also very interesting and after the final round only the tie-breaks could be used to declare the first woman in the tournament, since four ladies ended with 6.5/9! The final rank according to tie-breaks was: Liubov Kostiukova, Yana Melnikova, Irina Zakudjaeva and Ana Srebrnic.

Among the Aegean players Alexandros Koukoufikis was declared the Aegean Champion for 2008 while in the veteran category the first place went to Danish IM Bjorn Brinck-Claussen.

GM Evgeny Postny

Liubov Kostiukova

The end of the tournament found all participants very pleased, not only by the tournament itself, but also and more importantly by the friendly atmosphere during the event and the beauty of the island of Ikaria. Several participants, Greeks and foreigners, already confirmed their participation to next year’s event. The organization committee of Ikaria Chess Club and the Municipality of Aghios Kirykos (the main sponsor of Ikaros Chess Festival during the last decades) promised to do their best to provide participants with even better conditions and a better tournament!

Ikaros Chess Festival related articles

Sideris Kefalos, son of the tournament director Mr. Kosmas Kefalos, was the youngest participant

Peter Leko’s Big Comeback

Jul 7, 2008

Leko wins his third Dortmund trophy

Loek Van Wely should be praised for boldly attacking Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in the last round despite of being tied on the bottom of the crosstable with only one point after six rounds. A double-edged endgame ensued after Van Wely collected Black central pawns and tried to push his own. Mamedyarov countered on the queenside, combining Knight’s dominating position with Rook’s mobility. The endgame was sharp but level until Van Wely blundered, presumably in time trouble.

Dortmund 2007 winner Vladimir Kramnik experienced a bumpy ride at this year’s event, mostly because his main weapon, Petroff defence, failed on two occasions. On the last day, he attempted to improve the play from the 3rd round, but Vassily Ivanchuk deviated earlier and we didn’t see what would Kramnik now do against Naiditsch’s novelty. To be fair, Kramnik’s main competition this year is World Chess Championship match against Vishy Anand, and hiding opening preparation in Dortmund caught him in disadvantageous position.

Peter Leko deservingly won his third Dortmund tournament. Hungarian ace had a rough period with a couple of under-performing events, but he finally reached his old playing form. First-time comers, Jan Gustafsson and Ian Nepomniachtchi, will be pleased with their score. Kramnik is rarely finishing in minus and this was surprising outcome for everyone who expected him to fight for the trophy. Van Wely, sharp as always but unlucky in some games, was left on the last place full two points behind Kramnik.

Ivan Ivanisevic wins 2008 Serbian Championship

Mar 28, 2008

GM norms for Boban Bogosavljevic and Milos Pavlovic

Three players have entered the last round with same points, but only GM Ivan Ivanisevic managed to defeat his opponent and this valuable point brought him the championship trophy. Ivan had excellent finish, winning last three games in a row. GM Bojan Vuckovic tried his best to win with black pieces, but IM Dejan Leskur played safe variation against the Sicilian defence and was able to reach a draw rook endgame. Nevertheless, clear second place is excellent result for Vuckovic.

GM Dejan Pikula had a nice lead after 11 rounds, but then suffered two consecutive losses. He lost in the last round to FM Boban Bogosavljevic, who played very aggressive with black pieces because this point was necessary to reach GM norm. Bogosavljevic and Pikula finished tied on 3rd place. IM Milos M Pavlovic also earned his 2nd GM norm.

Srdjan Spasojevic, president of Serbian Chess Federation and Boban Bogosavljevic

Arbiters: Petar Katanic-Vujic and Milivoje Milivojevic

Vladica Andrejic was in charge of live games transmission

Players in group photo

Artyom Timofeev directs drama in the Moscow Open last round

Feb 11, 2008

Timofeev first, eight players tied 2nd place

International Chess Festival “Moscow Open 2008″, that was held on 2nd-10th of February at the Russian State Social University, saw a thrilling finale after Artyom Timofeev (RUS 2664) fought a record 117 moves against the then-leading Ernesto Inarkiev to win the game and eventually a tournament. Timofeev, who earlier had a rough time in strong round robins like Montreal Empresa and Bosna Sarajevo, snatched a substantial first prize of $20.000 USD. Total prize fund was amounting close to $200.000.

The main tournament had 304 participants. At the same time, 414 Candidate Masters and lower rated players battled it out in in the B section. Khodjayan Vardan of Armenia won this race with impressive 8.5 points, leaving the only half point in the last round.

Most of the Grandmasters will be moving to famous Aeroflot Open which is starting on Thursday. Beside the equally huge prize fund of $200.000 USD, Aeroflot Open is also offering its winner a direct invitation for the super round-robin Dortmund 2008.

Zoltan Almasi grabs Reggio Emilia trophy

Jan 7, 2008

half point ahead of the competition

Zoltan Almasi clinched the first place at the 50th Reggio Emilia, half point ahead of pack of players. We warned you before the event to pay attention to his games, and Zoltan made sure to fulfill the expectations. Three crushing wins with white pieces and six draws were enough for the trophy.

Winner: GM Zoltan Almasi

Key moment was in 8th round when Almasi beat David Navara. During the ETCC, Navara was employing Ruy Lopez Marshall, and when we asked him if he really believes it’s possible to play for a win with this deeply explored system, he said he’ll keep the answer for himself as professional secret. He is changing opening repertoire now, as he tried Zaitsev variation against Almasi. Nevertheless, Almasi was well prepared, and comfortably converted the advantage once he reached middlegame with opposite-colored Bishops.

Almasi quickly drew Vugar Gashimov, his only competitor, in the last round, while wins from Pentala Harikrishna and Hua Ni were good enough only for the 2nd place tie.

Francisco Vallejo Pons wins Ciudad de Pamplona

Dec 29, 2007

half point ahead of the competition

Francisco Vallejo Pons routinely drew with white against Wang Yue in the last round to claim clear first place at the Internacional Ciudad de Pamplona. Two wins at the start were good enough to keep him on the poll position. Half of the prize fund, 3500 Euros, will be divided according to number of wins.

Combative Baadur Jobava and solid Wang Yue are tied on the 2nd place with four points each. Alexander Beliavsky and Sergei Movsesian both earned full points in the last round to settle on 50% score. Talented junior Maxim Rodstein played pretty well and probably only lack of experience held him on three points. Gabriel Sargissian of Armenia finished on the same score, after some disastrous start. The player with the most decided games, Ibragim Khamrakulov, ended on the last place with 2.5 points.

Five players tied first on 2007 Politiken Cup

Jul 29, 2007

Krasenkow, Sargissian, Berg, de Firmian and Malakhov on the top – best tiebreak Krasenkow

2007 Politiken Cup ended with five players tied on the first place. Sargissian – Malakhov and Nybäck – Krasenkow were fighting draws, which allowed Nick de Firmian and Emanuel Berg to climb on the top by beating Peter Heine Nielsen and Lars Schandorff respectively. Michal Krasenkow takes the trophy on the better tiebreak. This year’s Politiken Cup broke all the records in numbers of participants and organizers are eager to make it even better in 2008.

Brilliancy Prize

GM Sune Berg Hansen awarded brilliancy prize to Jens Herneise for his win in the 5th round. The Prize is sponsored by Elsinore City and consists of 500 DKK, 3 bottles of red wine and two candle holders.

Vassily Ivanchuk continues winning streak

Jul 6, 2007

Ukrainian took yet another tournament

I am not a veteran! – said Vassily Ivanchuk in an interview for the newspaper “Komanda”. The Ukrainian leading player continues his impressive winning streak after he took Capablanca Memorial and Aerosvit Foros. This time he edged World Championship participant Alexander Grischuk by half point in the 10-player rapid Pivdenny Bank Chess Cup.

Having lost against Grischuk in the third round, Ivanchuk switched gear to win all three games on the 2nd day and additional two games on the last day. Grischuk couldn’t keep the pace and Radjabov’s persistent defence in the last round handed the trophy to Ivanchuk.

Fantastic run: GM Vassily Ivanchuk

Final standings:

1. Vassily Ivanchuk (UKR 2762) 7.0

2. Alexander Grischuk (RUS 2726) 6.5

3-4. Teimour Radjabov (AZE 2746) and Alexei Shirov (ESP 2735) 5.5

5. Boris Gelfand (ISR 2733) 5.0

6. Yuri Drozdovskij (UKR 2567) 4.0

7. Etienne Bacrot (FRA 2695) 3.5

8. Viktor Korchnoi (SUI 2610) 3.0

9-10. Vladimir Tukmakov (UKR 2551) and Ilia Smirin (ISR 2649) 2.5

Kramnik grabs 8th Dortmund trophy

Jul 1, 2007

Vladimir Kramnik won by clear point ahead of the others

Perhaps Dortmund Chess Meeting should be renamed to Kramnik’s lodge. World Champion has defended his last-year title and scored 8th victory in Dortmund over the last 15 years. Definitely, this is his event. All the remarks about the short tournament and peaceful players were overshadowed by his full-point triumph ahead of rest of the field.

Kramnik’s participation was confirmed only one day before the start as he was struggling with respiratory infection. The illness left no scars on his determination, Kramnik played nice and innovative chess and used all the opportunities to score full points.

Vladimir Kramnik

Tied on 2nd place are Aeroflot-qualificant Alexeev, Anand and Leko, all with single win and six draws. Kramnik, Anand and Leko are probably pleased with their form before the Mexico World Championsip. Anand will still play in a rapid knockout tournament in Leon. 4th Mexico participant, Boris Gelfand, arrived in Dortmund after two exhausting Candidate matches, and he will seek to raise his level over the next two months. Gelfand will be preparing with his old friends GM Huzman and Gorenje 2007 winner Michael Roiz.

Vassily Ivanchuk superior in Havana

May 29, 2007

Ukrainian took his third Capablanca Memorial

Havana must be on Vassily Ivanchuk’s favorites map as he won the Capablanca memorial for the third consecutive time. It was impressive run, too, he was looking at rest of the field from the two points distance. Rare result in short 9-round robins.

Vassily Ivanchuk

Kudos to Cuban GM Walter Arencibia for the wonderful fighting spirit. Six decisive games, with only three draws, brought him to 50% score, but his attitude was refreshing and play fun to watch. This concludes our “to-praise” list.

Bad shape of Neuris Delgado Ramirez and, once Corus Group “A” participant, Lazaro Bruzon Batista, turned them into punching bags. Other players were drawing too much, in too few moves, to deserve honorable mention. Together with Bosna 2007 tournament, an important signal for the organizers.

Bosna 2007 Final Report

May 29, 2007

Sergei Movsesian wins with a clear point ahead of the others

Our previous report covered the first half of the tournament, an interesting start with many surprises. The second half, however, was as exciting as watching the bamboo growing. Top placed Sergei Movsesian and Borki Predojevic were clearly satisfied with the standings, thus reducing their pugnacity. Artyom Timofeev was in a poor shape and every short draw was like a divine gift for him. He will surely want to forget Bosna soon.

GM Nigel Short

Alexander Morozevich and Ivan Sokolov were trying to achieve more, but both scored one win, one loss and couple of draws. Nigel Short was the only eager to fight, having played the largest number of moves. He had his retaliation against Morozevich, but others have already switched to ultra-solid mode. It will be totally logical to see Sofia rule in Bosna next year.